Brown Eyes and Redwood Trees
by Princess-of-Fantasy
Summary: Short, one chapter story. Set in early America. Mimi makes an incredible sacrfice for her husband, Yamato. This story is told by people for many years after the event...sad.


A/N: Hi! Well…this is actually my first 'short' Mimato story. Soooo, review please! (By the way, this doesn't take place in Japan. So it may sound out of place, but just use your imagination! ?)  
  
  
  
"Time pushed back the hurt that Yamato Ishida felt for the years that passed. When he moved on he barely even noticed that the vacant place in his heart moved with him. He never met anyone that he loved as much as her, therefore he never remarried." The speaker began in an emotionless voice, but she soon faltered, for the words that she held onto were so fragile. "This is the story of a woman who loved her husband and son so much that she gave the ultimate sacrifice."  
  
  
  
The audience was captivated by her first words that this elderly woman spoke. She sat poised in a large red velvet chair with her long legs folded over one another; in the chair she looked like royalty. The arms of the chair wrapped around her back and lay flat under her arms, as if it were hugging her. Her grey curls were pulled back lightly into a small butterfly clip with colors of green, black, and blue which nearly matched the colors of the sky. Her brown eyes were mixed with blue as they made a sea of darkness.  
  
She waited quietly for the people around her to focus solely on her. It had been so long since she had been told this story that she feared to tell it. She played with the ruffles on her shirt; she wore this as a tribute to her grandmother's style.  
  
  
  
"It started over 190 years ago, when my father was still a young boy." She began. "And it was a time when America was still fresh and new and the skies were not yet clouded with musk. This was a time when the British fought to gain control of the colonists."  
  
Her palm gripped firmly onto the other, lying gently on her lap. Her eyes focused on the two pale hands as she choked back the fragile memories.  
  
  
  
The wind ravaged through her dark molasses curls as she watched gray muskets rise into the air. Not a single fire was shot in the forest clearing. She stood proud, but her heart broke as she stood straight with her arms wrapped tightly around the squirming toddler against her chest. Rain clouds threatened to spill as rumbles shook the sky. Tiny streams of water dropped occasionally as wretched reminders of the hour.   
  
  
  
One bayonet lowered and a man spoke in a deep British accent, "At the decree of the King, Yamato Ishida will be shot in public display." His voice rang as he repeated the announcements to the deluded crowd that surrounded the scene. The British officer raised his right arm high above his head and prepared a signal. Guns clicked as the soldiers took their aim at the blindfolded man who was hung by his wrists on a tree in the center of the clearing. Yamato looked like nothing as he hung from the massive red wood tree. Its branches swirled around the trunk and silently mourned the injustice.  
  
  
  
The woman's tears flooded down her cheeks, landing softly on the child like rain. Hearing the yells of the officer to his men was almost physical torture. She grinded her teeth once and handed her son to a nearby friend. She grabbed her full skirt at the sides and walked through the angered crowd. Town members tried to stop her from reaching the soldiers in fear that she might be shot instantly, but none were successful. Her dried tears stained her face as she ran past the soldiers. None shot at her, for the officer had not commanded them to.  
  
  
  
"What are you doing, civilian?" The officer spoke. "Are you not aware that you could be shot for interrupting an officer and his men during an execution?"  
  
  
  
"Yes Officer, I am." She spoke proudly, keeping calm though she was shaking inside. "I have a proposal for you, sir."  
  
  
  
Yamato's head shot up at the sound of the female's voice. The officer nodded slowly, not sure if he should listen to her.  
  
  
  
"Sir, please do not murder this man. I beg of you. This man is my husband and I… I am Mimi Ishida, Daughters of Liberty leader."  
  
  
  
The officer's eyes widened at the name of the woman, and he immediately told the men to their arms.  
  
  
  
"Yes, I am Mimi Ishida. I lead the retaliation group called the Daughters of Liberty, I'm sure you've heard of them as well as the Sons of Liberty. I am also responsible for the destruction of the statue of the King."  
  
  
  
Anger grew in the officer's face as he remembered the pieces of shattered stone that were scattered around the statue's resting place. "And what is your proposal, Mrs. Taylor?" He asked out from behind his clenched teeth.  
  
  
  
"My request, officer, is that you spare my husband and take my life in hand," she said brokenly.  
  
  
  
Yamato, who had been listening intently to his wife, rapidly moved his body against the rope in protest. "Mimi, no!!"  
  
  
  
"Quiet, Taylor!" The officer yelled at him, and then he turned back to the pale woman in front of him. "And why would the British army make a trade such as this?"  
  
  
  
"Well, think of it, sir. Would the King not have more satisfaction with the disposal of a leading Daughters of Liberty member? My husband is just a mercenary, but I am in retaliation. Will he not want more torture upon me, instead of Yamato?" Water hadn't flooded her eyes, nor did her voice crack; she stood stiffly.  
  
  
  
The British officer thought for a moment and then turned to the crowd. "Is this woman who she says she is? Is this the Mimi Ishida of the Daughters of Liberty?"  
  
  
  
He spoke with a deep voice that carried along the heads of the people. The crowds looked past him and stared at Mimi. The crowd was amazed at her bravery and determination to save her family. Mothers in the crowd held their tiny children to their bosoms, shielding their small eyes from the oncoming execution. No one in the crowd answered the officer, they stood silently.   
  
  
  
Mimi moved closer to the officer. "Please sir, if you will consider nothing else, considers this. Let my husband live not for me, but for our son." She began to tremble in her hands and her knees. Their son needed a father, it was almost necessary.   
  
  
  
The soldiers said nothing continued to hold their fire.  
  
  
  
"Mimi, please. He needs you! Don't do this!" Yamato screamed with his voice quivering, despite that he knew the danger of being shot for his outburst. Mimi disregarded her husband's pleading and continued to wait for an answer. A long silence fell upon the forest clearing; the only sound was the crinkling of the autumn leaves.  
  
  
  
"By the decree of the British army and for the King," The officer began, breaking the silence between the shooting squad and the crowd, "Mimi Ishida, leading member of Daughters of Liberty, will be sentenced to death at this public execution in place of Yamato Ishida."  
  
  
  
The majority of the crowd dropped their faces to the ground, mourning Mimi and the loss her family had to bear. However, relief struck Mimi's dejected face, knowing that her husband would survive and her son would grow up the way he should. The officer sent two soldiers to the tree to drop Yamato from the rope. Yamato fell a foot and landed on his weakened knees. The two men grabbed his tied wrists and pushed him along the crowd. The soldiers left the blindfold on him to cover his eyes. Yamato struggled against them as he tried to shout out to his wife, as a last plea.   
  
  
  
Mimi didn't look at Yamato and instead she turned away when he fumbled past her. He was so close to her that she forced restrain on herself to keep from touching him. Her dark brown eyes, now were with liquid, followed her husband as he passed and looked at her son. Yamato now stood holding their son tightly. A soldier stood behind her small family, ready to untie Yamato's blindfold. The blindfold dropped to the ground, damp from his sweat and his tears of anguish. Moisture gathered again in his green eyes as he looked up just as the soldiers began to tie Mimi's wrists to the rope. Once the tight rope began to dig into her flesh, she gave out a cry of defeat. Yamato stood firmly on the ground, trying hard not to die along with her. He had to be strong for their son.   
  
  
  
The officer raised his hands again and waited for the soldiers to take aim. Mimi's body shook in convulsions as the rain started to downpour on the grieving audience.  
  
  
  
"Mimi Ishida was killed that day. In a way that caused more pain than anyone though it would. It wasn't the physical pain, for that had ended quickly, but it was the emotional pain that ate away at her as she took her husbands place on the tree." The elderly woman old the suppressed crowd, who had listened to the intent details and emotion of her story. Hot tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks, falling on her shirt.  
  
  
  
"Mimi Ishida was my grandmother. And to this day I thank God for her sacrifice, because without her actions my father wouldn't have treated me the same… it was all due to her."  
  
She looked to the sky and muttered a few words in a short breath.  
  
  
  
"Thank you."  
  
THE END.  
  
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I don't own digimon or any character in it. 


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